Elizabeth Rose: Published Author.

"My book! It's the book I published."

"Well, don't sit there shaking like a leaf — open it."

— Anne and Marilla in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

Shaking like a leaf is probably the closest description for how I feel at this moment. Although, unlike Anne, I am not physically holding a hard copy of my book. No, I am sitting at the computer with this image before my eyes:

Rather surreal, is it not? All this time, I thought I would be jumping up and down when this moment arrived, but now that it is here, I am in shock. I think this emotion that everything is going to fade at a moment's notice, like a puff of blue-tinged smoke, will take some time to wear away. It has been an amazing journey, and as the cliche (but true) phrase goes, I couldn't have done it with each of you. If the excerpts I have posted here and on Unsinkable have peaked your interest or inspired you in some way, then you now have the opportunity to read my book in its entirety.

Click here to purchase a copy of Violets Are Blue.

"I never liked the water very much, at least not the water I knew. It was dark, dense, and deep. I much preferred dry land. There was something firm about dry land—I could trust it. Water changed all the time, lapping against the shore, pulling back again, rising and falling with the tide. Water was fickle and uncertain." — First paragraph of Violets Are Blue

VAB Update #3

Patience. It's a virtue I have not yet mastered, and think it will be some time before I do. For example, proof #2 of Violets Are Blue arrived on Wednesday! *insert excited squeals* We assumed that, since the corrections on the first proof were made, we would be all set and ready to release the book on Amazon sometime in the next few days. 

Fortunately, Create Space understood that even though we submitted the book in one format, we really wanted them to shrink the font and widen the margins, thus lessening the professional feel. I hated to ask for it, and I am ever so glad the great and wonderful Amazon.com took it into their hands to enlighten us in the world of book publishing. I don't know what we would have done without their infinite wisdom.

I hope you understand that that was all sarcasm. ;)

We're trying to make the changes as quickly and efficiently as possible, but it is proving to be a bigger to-do than we originally thought. So, I am here now, letting y'all know that it may be a while before we're finished. I feel horrible about asking y'all to wait longer, especially after we all thought it would be done by April 14th, but I know God has a plan for all this, and I am trusting in Him.

I'll still be posting occasional updates on Unsinkable whenever I have more news.

VAB Update #2

Several days ago I heard back from the book agent with his thoughts on the edited edition of Violets Are Blue. Here is a little bit of what he said:

"I have had the opportunity to read the revised manuscript and thought the changes you made did a much better job of providing the reader with a better picture of the Eastbourne setting and environs before the two friends are separated when the Titanic embarks. Well done!"

The next step is publishing. We are considering doing it through Amazon's CreateSpace, which is how my father has published his books, so that we can make sure it's released by April 2012. As much as I love the writing process, I am extremely excited about getting into designing the cover and layout of the book. I hope to have an image of Violet on the cover holding a letter; however, that means I need to find someone who resembles Vi. This whole ordeal is thrilling, but it also can be nerve-wracking as we race against time to finish everything before next spring. More than anything, I would really, really appreciate prayer. Here are specific prayer requests:

~ Peace in our hearts as we head into the last part of this project

~ As few technical difficulties as possible

~ That a young lady who resembles Violet may be discovered among my acquaintances, and that she may be willing to pose for the cover

~ That everything will go smoothly and be completed by 14 April 2012

Thank you so much, ladies! I know this is going to be a somewhat rough ordeal, but I also am confident that it will prove fruitful when completed. 

"I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." ~Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

Why the giveaway winner and new giveaway were not posted today

All of you must be wondering why the end of last month's giveaway was not announced on the 12th and why the winner and next month's giveaway was not posted today. Bree and I are very sorry for the inconvenience, but we have been out of town with our family for the past four days due to our grandfather's memorial service in a different state, and we just returned home this afternoon. Through the hustle and bustle of preparing for this trip, it escaped both of our minds to schedule the giveaway's end post or the next month's giveaway post. Our humble apologies on both accounts. The August - September giveaway should be up tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.

Again, Bree and I feel very remorseful over this mistake and we hope it has not caused too much trouble. We know y'all with *love* this month's giveaway, and we can't wait for you to see it! 

VAB Update

Hello all! This is Elizabeth Rose, on her own laptop. *sigh* Thanks to Brianna, I was able to figure out how to sign myself in again on this computer, after certain difficulties. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to be able to go on my dashboard and post without having to use my dear momma's computer. :)

The other day I had a thought: we do It's A Fact, monthly giveaways, and later on there will be guest posts and articles about different topics relating to the Titanic. However, the only thing we put up on Unsinkable relating to Violets Are Blue are montly excerpts. 

To add more color and dimension to this event, I have decided to post occasional updates on VAB. Do you think that might suit you?

Here is the first one:

After having written VAB, edited it for several months, and then sent it off to a book agent, I am now almost finished editing for the second time. My current word count is 51,730 words. This will probably reach a little over 52,000 words by the end of the editing process. I'm very excited about all this, because I've added some new chapters at the beginning, and I'm changing the ending a bit. Not too much; I'm only tweaking a few details. 

A few of you may already be aware of this, but Ethan's last name has changed many a time. It has been Clarke, Graham, Blakeney, and a host of other last names. Finally, about two months ago, I settled on Hartley as his last name, because I liked the sound of "Ethan Hartley" better than any of the other former surnames I had given him. Well, unbeknownst to me, Hartley just so happens to be the last name of the bandmaster on the Titanic! How neat is that? I'm extremely eager now to see how I can add that into the story...

Well, I'd better get back to my editing. Au revoir!